Istanbul court sentences man to life in jail over elderly Armenian’s murder

PanARMENIAN.Net - An Istanbul criminal court sentenced a man accused of killing an elderly Armenian woman in 2012 to life imprisonment, Tert.am reports.

Murad Nazarian, who initially denied involvement in the murder, stood his ground at the final hearing too, pleading not guilty of the crime, Turkish media report.

“I haven’t committed the crime I am charged with,” he said, calling for an immediate release.

Maritsa Kucuk, 85, was one of the four Istanbul-Armenian women assaulted and brutally murdered in Istanbul in 2012-2013. She was found dead in her apartment on December 28, 2012.

Eren Keskin, a lawyer representing the Kucuks, delivered an address after the hearing, voicing her doubts as to the court’s respect for the due process requirement. “The defendant was intimidated all the time, so he never spoke. [Earlier evidence] proved that he was not the only suspect. Obviously, he didn’t act alone,” she said.

Nazarian, who was detained shortly after Kucuk’s murder, was earlier claimed to be suffering from a mental disorder. But further forensic examination did not reveal anything that could relieve him of criminal liability.